Sofia Kenin is out of her fifth consecutive tournament in the first round, losing to Sorana Cirstea at the 2024 Dubai Championships.
The American found some inspired tennis late last year, which made fans hope that she's back to her best, but it's not been working out that well this year.
She played really well at the World Tennis League before the New Year, and it kind of looked like 2024 might be that year. The year when she finally gets back to possibly Top 10 or Top 20 level and becomes one of the best players in the world again.
It's not worked out that well lately as the American lost a few times early in several events. In Dubai, Kenin faced Sorana Cirstea in the opening round. Cirstea is a pretty good player and has played really well lately.
She was able to outplay Kenin in this match, largely thanks to being the more stable player from the baseline. That's Cirstea's strength, even though sometimes it can go badly when she's missing a lot.
That didn't happen a lot in this match, which is what allowed her to cruise through it. The only break point the Romanian faced was at 5-4 in the second set when she served to close out the match.
She allowed that lone break point, and Kenin was able to use it and make it 5-5. Then the American had to fight really hard and fend off more break points to make it 6-5.
Cirstea would make it 6-6, and in the tie-break, the Romanian did what she failed to do a couple of games earlier. She was just the sharper player overall, and when it mattered the most, she was able to get it done. The final score was 6-3, 7-6(2) for Cirstea.
Her recent resurgence has been impressive to see. When it comes to Kenin, it's her fifth consecutive lost, and it's back to the drawing board for the American.
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